October Sky
"October Sky" Directed by Joe Johnston, written by Homer H. Hickam Jr. [Rocket Boys] and Lewis Colick; with Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, and a special cameo appearance by O. Winston Link. MPAA: Rating [PG] for language, brief teen sensuality and alcohol use, and for some thematic elements. Run time:108 minutes.
If you grew up in the fifties, it's likely you'll remember when the U.S.S.R launched Sputnik, the U.S.'s blundering accident-prone pre-NASA space program, and the level of Cold War tension gripping the world at the time. I know I do. "October Sky" seems to remember pretty well, too. Based on Homer Hickam's true story, "The Rocket Boys", the movie is a pleasantly fictionalized account of Homer's discovery of his dream and the genesis of his life's work with NASA.
NOTE: By reading this review, (or just watching the movie's trailers, for that matter) you will easily solve the "Rocky" formula that "October Sky" is destined to follow: (Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away here - this basic plot should be pretty familiar by now.)
Boy has dream - Boy decides to live dream - Howls of derisive laughter directed at boy - Dream shattered - Boy gives up - Boy gets angry - Boy tries harder - Boy shows them all, by golly - Entire world revolves around boy - Crescendo, fade to black.
Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the teenage son of a gritty, hard-edged, hard-working coal miner John Hickam (Chris Cooper is excellent here. Even when he's showing his softer side later in the movie, he never loses his edge) in rural West Virginia in 1957. The Soviet Union has just bumped the space race up a couple of notches with the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. On a clear October night, Homer and the town assembled gather to watch the satellite streak through the sky, (now, we've got our doubts about this, what with Sputnik being just a shade over eighteen inches in diameter, but it's only a movie, and every movie needs its plot device on which to pivot.) and Homer knows immediately that he's destined to build rockets. Now that's a genius in my book - when I was his age, the only things I could even guess I was destined for were blindness and maybe a couple of low-grade flashbacks. (Private email if you need to have either of these details explained to you.)
He is, of course, rebuked and ridiculed by his father, his big brother, the town, his principal and his classmates; in short everyone save his two buddies Roy Lee (William Lee Scott) and O'Dell (Chad Lindberg). They go along with him, even to the point of helping him enlist the scientific advice and counsel of the blatantly cootie infested social misfit, school nerd Quentin (Chris Owen). Together the four boys begin to build rockets.
From the first, you're doubtful whether Homer's irresistible force will ever overcome the resistance from his father, the immovable object. Homer's dad lives and breathes coal, his life is The Mine, and of course can't understand why the mine isn't good enough for his damn fool, rocket-obsessed son to work in. Homer is one persistent cuss though, and with the encouragement of his dedicated and enlightened teacher, Miss Riley, (Laura Dern) and the distant promise of escape from a lifetime of coal mining via a blue sky bazillion to one dream of winning the National Science Fair and subsequently, huge college scholarships, he and his buddies learn (eventually) to use Newton's Third Law and the Bernoulli Effect to break the bonds of gravity. They work hard, good things happen, etc. Their ingenuity is remarkable, their dogged persistence is admirable.
I'm not going to delve into a lot of sub-plot detail on this movie, because the line is so simple that it doesn't require much real analysis. What's important here is that the movie is well done and reasonably believable. The sequences inside the coal mine are realistic enough that you can almost smell the coal - definitely not for claustrophobes. Also hanging in the air is the oily feeling of quiet desperation in the miners and their families - most realize they'll never know anything but the back-breaking, soul-destroying grind of a lifetime working the mines.
The movie's emotional trump card is the tortuous relationship of Homer and his father. They play it just enough to maintain the tension and father-son stress between two strong-willed males - one with a dream, and one whose dream died years before. They finally wrap it up and put a nice bow on it - might be the best father-son convergence and resolution since "Field of Dreams". Note: The "hero" speech will get you. You'll see it coming a mile off, but it'll get you. A Kleenex just might come in handy. It's a touching and credible pairing, skillfully handled.
Parenthetically, for me, being a photographer and all, the brief appearance of renowned steam train photographer O. Winston Link as the engineer of a (what else?) steam locomotive was an unexpected lagniappe. Now if they had just tied Adam Sandler to the tracks.
I liked "October Sky", although it didn't contain many surprises. If your tastes in movies lean toward exploding cliffhangers, twisting plots or something with "National Lampoon" in the title, you might not be as satisfied, but for a a nice story told well; a family movie with a message and an often-overlooked historical perspective, it's definitely worth your time. Take the kids, but beware - the sales of model rockets have - umm, skyrocketed since the release of "October Sky".
I gave it three cows. Enjoy.
If you grew up in the fifties, it's likely you'll remember when the U.S.S.R launched Sputnik, the U.S.'s blundering accident-prone pre-NASA space program, and the level of Cold War tension gripping the world at the time. I know I do. "October Sky" seems to remember pretty well, too. Based on Homer Hickam's true story, "The Rocket Boys", the movie is a pleasantly fictionalized account of Homer's discovery of his dream and the genesis of his life's work with NASA.
NOTE: By reading this review, (or just watching the movie's trailers, for that matter) you will easily solve the "Rocky" formula that "October Sky" is destined to follow: (Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away here - this basic plot should be pretty familiar by now.)
Boy has dream - Boy decides to live dream - Howls of derisive laughter directed at boy - Dream shattered - Boy gives up - Boy gets angry - Boy tries harder - Boy shows them all, by golly - Entire world revolves around boy - Crescendo, fade to black.
Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the teenage son of a gritty, hard-edged, hard-working coal miner John Hickam (Chris Cooper is excellent here. Even when he's showing his softer side later in the movie, he never loses his edge) in rural West Virginia in 1957. The Soviet Union has just bumped the space race up a couple of notches with the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. On a clear October night, Homer and the town assembled gather to watch the satellite streak through the sky, (now, we've got our doubts about this, what with Sputnik being just a shade over eighteen inches in diameter, but it's only a movie, and every movie needs its plot device on which to pivot.) and Homer knows immediately that he's destined to build rockets. Now that's a genius in my book - when I was his age, the only things I could even guess I was destined for were blindness and maybe a couple of low-grade flashbacks. (Private email if you need to have either of these details explained to you.)
He is, of course, rebuked and ridiculed by his father, his big brother, the town, his principal and his classmates; in short everyone save his two buddies Roy Lee (William Lee Scott) and O'Dell (Chad Lindberg). They go along with him, even to the point of helping him enlist the scientific advice and counsel of the blatantly cootie infested social misfit, school nerd Quentin (Chris Owen). Together the four boys begin to build rockets.
From the first, you're doubtful whether Homer's irresistible force will ever overcome the resistance from his father, the immovable object. Homer's dad lives and breathes coal, his life is The Mine, and of course can't understand why the mine isn't good enough for his damn fool, rocket-obsessed son to work in. Homer is one persistent cuss though, and with the encouragement of his dedicated and enlightened teacher, Miss Riley, (Laura Dern) and the distant promise of escape from a lifetime of coal mining via a blue sky bazillion to one dream of winning the National Science Fair and subsequently, huge college scholarships, he and his buddies learn (eventually) to use Newton's Third Law and the Bernoulli Effect to break the bonds of gravity. They work hard, good things happen, etc. Their ingenuity is remarkable, their dogged persistence is admirable.
I'm not going to delve into a lot of sub-plot detail on this movie, because the line is so simple that it doesn't require much real analysis. What's important here is that the movie is well done and reasonably believable. The sequences inside the coal mine are realistic enough that you can almost smell the coal - definitely not for claustrophobes. Also hanging in the air is the oily feeling of quiet desperation in the miners and their families - most realize they'll never know anything but the back-breaking, soul-destroying grind of a lifetime working the mines.
The movie's emotional trump card is the tortuous relationship of Homer and his father. They play it just enough to maintain the tension and father-son stress between two strong-willed males - one with a dream, and one whose dream died years before. They finally wrap it up and put a nice bow on it - might be the best father-son convergence and resolution since "Field of Dreams". Note: The "hero" speech will get you. You'll see it coming a mile off, but it'll get you. A Kleenex just might come in handy. It's a touching and credible pairing, skillfully handled.
Parenthetically, for me, being a photographer and all, the brief appearance of renowned steam train photographer O. Winston Link as the engineer of a (what else?) steam locomotive was an unexpected lagniappe. Now if they had just tied Adam Sandler to the tracks.
I liked "October Sky", although it didn't contain many surprises. If your tastes in movies lean toward exploding cliffhangers, twisting plots or something with "National Lampoon" in the title, you might not be as satisfied, but for a a nice story told well; a family movie with a message and an often-overlooked historical perspective, it's definitely worth your time. Take the kids, but beware - the sales of model rockets have - umm, skyrocketed since the release of "October Sky".
I gave it three cows. Enjoy.
